What is language?

Linguistic knowledge

As you are reading these words, you are taking part in one of the wonders of the natural world. For you and I belong to a species with a remarkable ability: we can shape events in each other’s brains with exquisite precision. [. . . ] Simply by making noises with our mouths, we can reliably cause precise new combinations of ideas to arise in each other’s minds. (Pinker 1995: 15)

Knowledge of possible sounds

Knowledge of possible words

Possible sound patterns:

English:

toy, boy, coy, *moy

Romanian:

toi, boi, c-oi, moi

Same sound pattern, different meanings:

Romanian:

toi = middle (of an event) boi = oxen c-oi = that I shall moi = soft (masculine plural) put = I stink

English:

toy = playing object boy = male child coy = pretending to be shy; reluctant to disclose put = place (verb)

Same meaning, different sound patterns:

English: house French: maison Russian: dom Spanish: casa Bangla: ghor

Knowledge of possible sentences

1. The dog is thinking that he is alone.
2. The dog is thinking that the dog is thinking that he is alone.
3. ...
4. John kissed the old lady who owned the shaggy dog.
5. *Who owned the shaggy dog John kissed the little old lady.
6. John is difficult to love.
7. It is difficult to love John.
8. John is anxious to go.
9. *It is anxious to go John.
10. John, who was a student, flunked his exams.
11. Exams his flunked student a was who John.
12. What he did was climb a tree.
13. *What he thought was want a sports car.
14. *She loves John Lucy.
15. *They has questions.
16. *Has questions. (OK in telegraphic text)
17. *I ain’t got nothing. (OK in some dialects of English)
18. *I ate any cookie.
19. I ate any cookie that was on the table.
20. Any cookie interests me.
21. *Amy is student.
22. Neil Armstrong was the first man to step on moon.
23. *Dog chases cats.
24. Dogs chase cats.
25. The dogs bark.
26. I don’t know how many children Jimmy has, but he doesn’t have more than two.
27. *I don’t know how many children Jimmy has, but he doesn’t have at least three.
28. This is the sort of nonsense that I will not put up with.
29. ?This is the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put. (Read fun history here.)

Linguistic knowledge

Competence	Performance
What we know about a language.	How we use our knowledge about language in actual speech production and comprehension.
Mostly unconscious.	Affected by physical constraints.

What is grammar?

Prescriptive grammar

[TBA]

Descriptive grammar

[TBA]

Universal Grammar (UG)

[TBA]